New CEO’s 100-day report gives NYMTA a low grade

After 100
days on the job, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman and
CEO Jay H. Walder wonders if MTA really needs 92 different phone numbers for
customer information and six calling centers.Does an agency running a $400
million deficit really need to pay $550 million a year in overtime? Is it smart
to spend 15 cents to collect and process every dollar collected in fares?

These are
just few areas in need of attention that Walder identified in a report, “Making
Every Dollar Count,” that he released to mark his first three months in office.
Walder acknowledged that much has been done by his predecessors to tackle the
bureaucratic inefficiencies that persist at MTA and to
deliver better service to customers. But a streamlined,

customer-focused,
and cost-effective approach to operating the nation’s largest public transportation
agency remains a distant goal.

Narrowing
that distance will be a little more difficult than Walder first thought.

“When I
started in October, I expected this report to talk about plans for finally
starting to catch up with the rest of the world, and it does,” said Walder.
"But I barely had my feet on the ground when the state’s economic crisis
hit the MTA hard. It’s clear that my first priority right now must be

to attack the
MTA’s cost structure and ensure we are using every dollar effectively. At the
same time, we must find affordable ways to improve service for customers who have
been waiting far too long.”

Here are some
of the things Walder has in mind:

• “In 2010, Customer Information Signs
will be activated in 75

subway
stations. In 2011, this same information system will be operational at all of
the stations on the 1-6 subway lines.

• “By the end of 2010, we plan to test
bus arrival information

systems from
several vendors, to enable rollout of a system beginning in mid-2011.

• “By March 2010, next commuter train
information will be available “on line”—via smart phone and web—for service to
and from all LIRR and main line Metro-North stations.

• “We are moving forward with plans to
test state-of-the-art

technology
that allows all motorists to pay tolls without stopping at the Henry Hudson
Bridge.

• “In 2010, the MTA, New Jersey Transit
and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in partnership with
MasterCard, will pilot new technology that will eliminate the need to swipe a
farecard, will cost less to operate and eventually will provide subway, bus and
commuter rail customers with other benefits, including faster bus boarding,
regional interconnectivity, and the ability to select among unlimited ride and pay-per-ride
options via the web and telephone.”

The full
report is available, along with a video, on the MTA's new website at
www.mta.info.